10 ways moms can pray for important decisions in a child’s life

    A few days ago, my kids and I broke away from dinnertime cleanup to take an evening walk. One of the most refreshing times for me as a mom is to head a couple blocks south of our home and watch the sun set in the wide-open fields. A dirt road leads to the land, and as you come to the end of it, a yellow traffic sign meets you with a bold black arrow pointing to the left and one to the right.
    A crossroad.
    As my kids made their way to the sign and the bursts of pink, orange and blue colors in the sky hung in the backdrop, I thought about how much they’re growing up. Just the other night I began to share with my almost-10-year-old son how as he grows older, he’ll begin to see more of the ugly that’s in our world — hatred and murder to name a few. We had a serious conversation and will continue that dialogue.
    Since then, I’ve continued to think about the decisions my kids will face as they meet each new stage of development: choosing the right friends; navigating challenges in school; handling the good and bad of technology; deciding their passions and educational pursuits; giving in to the flesh or the spirit; finding their identity in Christ or in this culture; believing who God says they are vs. lies of Satan.
    All of these are critical choices that can’t be diminished. It’s a matter of wisdom. The book of Proverbs is full of stark contrasts between the wise and the foolish person.
    The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness (Ecclesiastes 2:14).
    The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice (Proverbs 12:15).
    The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace (Proverbs 3: 35).
    And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand (Matthew 7:26).
    The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him (Ecclesiastes 10:12).
    We want our kids to be wise and not foolish. No one wants to be a fool, yet many times the roads that we take are in fact that very nature as we can be easily deceived.
    As moms, we have the wonderful privilege and opportunity to pray for these crossroads in our children’s lives. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say it’s our joyful duty. If we don’t pray for the overall trajectory of their lives, who will?

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